Regulating SOE’s: A Leadership Approach

July 19, 2011Brasilia, Brazil

Is regulating a government-owned enterprise more complicated than a privately-owned company? It is, according to PURC Director Dr. Mark Jamison, as he explained in the seminar, Regulating SOE’s: A Leadership Approach, for the National Water Agency of Brazil.

Dr. Jamison noted that this regulation is hard because of unclear objectives, unclear financial controls, unclear governance, and very clear politics. The lack of clarity decreases the effectiveness of many traditional tools of regulation. In these situations, regulators need to take a more leadership-oriented approach to understand context, adapt their regulations to changing circumstances, and think politically without being political.